New Healthcare Careers Academy provides pathway for underserved students
North Chicago Community High School students are being prepared for careers and college through the new Healthcare Careers Pathway Academy designed in collaboration with lead partner Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago.
The academy, which launched last fall, offers a guided curriculum, mentoring, and the opportunity to gain industry recognized credentials for students who are mostly Latino and African American - ethnicities that are underrepresented in medical and healthcare fields.
The Institute of Medicine recommends growing the number of minority health professionals as a key strategy in eliminating health disparities.
"What can we do to ensure our region has a very high standard of health care?" asked Dr. Michael Welch, RFU president and CEO, during the Health Professions Education Consortium annual meeting, which followed a tour of the academy on April 30. "We can educate the children in our communities, steward them through high school into college, graduate school and careers."
"The data shows," Welch said, "that health professionals are more likely to go back to the communities where they grew up to deliver a high standard of care."
Ben Martindale, District 187 chief education officer, said the academy is pushing increased rigor throughout North Chicago HIgh School in subjects including math and science. Among the first academy cohort of 30 students, according to Martindale, attendance rates, grade point averages and scores on college readiness tests have all improved and discipline issues have dropped by two-thirds
Ricky Garcia said he learned how to take a pulse, blood pressure, perform CPR, first aid and other healthcare skills as a student in the academy, which will add additional cohorts over the next several years.
"We all have the same goal - to go into the medical field," Garcia said. "We're not just students, we're friends."
The academy was toured by healthcare, education and industry experts from HPEC, whose members are working to meet regional healthcare needs by improving the college and career readiness of students matriculating into higher education. The consortium is funded in part through the HealthCare Foundation of Northern Lake County and the Steans Family Foundation.
Other pipeline programs developed and supported by Rosalind Franklin University at North Chicago High School include the Future Healthcare Professionals Club and STEP UP (Serving to Educate Potential Upcoming Professionals) which includes tutoring, mentoring and ACT preparation. RFU also offers INSPIRE, a summer research program for Latino high school students in Waukegan and North Chicago.
A national leader in interprofessional medical and healthcare education, RFU includes the Chicago Medical School, College of Health Professions, College of Pharmacy, Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.